Landlord Guides

Shocked campaigners protesting against building student halls and an underground car park in a graveyard have lost their fight to stop the development.
Planners have agreed the 262-bedroom student accommodation scheme can go ahead – but the developers have to wait for permissi

Live-in landlords can collect up to £4,250 in rent tax free a year from someone who shares their home.
The rent-a-room scheme was originally introduced to ease a shortage of accommodation in the last housing crisis, but it’s still on the tax law books and is finding a new leas

Landlords are joining up with a city council and university to launch a joint housing strategy.
Brighton and Hove City Council and the University of Brighton are offering landlords long-term contracts, rent guarantees and a managed lettings process in return for better propert

Stamp duty changes in the Budget make income-shifting tax planning easier for married couples investing in property.
The old rules blocked saving income tax for married couples and civil partners by making the cost of switching ownership in mortgaged property too expensive.

Chancellor George Osborne was on his feet for just over an hour presenting a tax neutral Budget aimed at providing economic growth and fairness.
Unsurprisingly, he took the opportunity to let rip about the state of the economy he inherited from the outgoing Labour government.

Student landlord Helen Clark and her property company have been stripped of HMO licences for a multi-million pound portfolio of shared houses across Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The city council confirmed their decision to revoke her house in multiple occupation (HMO) licences on the

Landlords are facing a nationwide crackdown by councils enforcing shared house licenses.
Councillors in Leeds have just taken the 16th landlord to court in as many months for failing to apply for a selective house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence.
Mohammed Ishtiaque ple

Landlords renting out shared houses in Scotland could face fines of up to £50,000 for breaching licensing and registration laws.
Scottish Assembly members have backed a Private Rented Housing Bill that gets far tougher with landlords than equivalent legislation in England and

In an ideal world you have satisfied students paying the rent and looking after your property but things can go wrong and it pays to know your rights if they do.
Before letting your property you have found the correct agreement and done an inventory of items which you are prov

You have saved your deposit, think you have weighed up the pros and cons, and you are ready to move into the student accommodation market – but are you?
Do you know what you are looking for and where? Will you go for a new property or an older one which may require some renova

The days of grotty bed sits and down at heel accommodation for students are numbered if not gone.
In the technological age with green issues, increasing standards of quality and greater choice a landlord must be on the ball to succeed in the world of student accommodation.

Property consumer champion Christopher Hamer has hit out against rogue letting agents who rip off tenants and landlords.
Calls from property ombudsman Hamer for a crack down on unscrupulous traders has been snubbed by the government and Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
His app

Landlords and tenants will have less time to take disputes to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme from April.
From April 6, any disputes arising from tenancy agreements covered by the TDS starting on or after that date will have to go to adjudication within three months of the date the

Trading statements by the UK's biggest corporate student accommodation provider an insight in to how the market may develop for smaller landlords.
The business model for the Unite group is set to move focus to London rather than the rest of the country – leaving opportunities

Good can come out of bad and the current depressed housing situation in the UK may have long term beneficial effects for students.
Over the last year average buy to let rents across the country have fallen or remained stable but rentals for student accommodation have risen by

As a landlord, the last thing you need is a void property.
That just means you have to fork out for the months in which it lies empty when in all probability you’d already the spent income (in your head at least).
Sometimes, however, it can’t be avoided. And sometimes, you

Minimising taxes is one of the easiest ways to boost your property profits. Here are seven tips to help you...
1) Claim Costs as Revenue Expenses
In the current climate, where possible ensure that expenses are deductible as revenue expenses, as they will minimise your income

There are slight signs of recovery in the buy to let market and it could just be the right time for you to consider specialising in accommodation for students.
Students can make good tenants for a variety of reasons. One of the obvious reasons is that with a sharing situation

Finding out how much a property is worth is crucial for an investor trying to do some sums to check out if the rent and yield stack up against the asking price.
Several property firms, lenders and government departments publish monthly house price surveys, but their results ar

Students and landlords in Scotland will have to protect rental deposits and bonds in an official scheme after a new law was passed by the Scottish Assembly.
The rules are similar to the deposit protection scheme that is running in England and Wales.
The aim is to cut disput

AFS attended a webinar held by Bretherton's Solicitors LLP yesterday, which contained information that may be useful for you to know. Please copy the link below and insert it into your web address bar to listen to a recording of the webinar.
http://brethertons.adobeconnect.com

Student lettings led the way in property investment with increases in rents, property values and returns on investment in the past year.
Overall, student landlords enjoyed a remarkable 13.5% return in a financial year characterised by poor economic performance in most other in

With the number of first-time buyers falling to yet another low thanks to stringent mortgage lending restrictions, there’s never been a better time to be a landlord.
In some cities, letting agents have reported scenarios of up to seven people bidding to rent the same property.

Student, landlords and letting agents are joining together in many cities to battle local councils who want to tighten controls on shared housing.
Many councils are seeking 'article 4' powers under the Housing Act so they can manage the numbers of shared houses in neighbourhoo

Students who want to stay on in their accommodation for the next academic year need to rebook early or run the risk of losing their homes.
Universities are already pre-booking their own halls and private accommodation in anticipation of a rush of new students next year.
The

Crime fighting campaigns run by students in Birmingham are so successful that a plans to heighten robbery awareness have been cancelled.
On top of that, thefts and burglaries from student houses in the city's Selly Oak neighbourhood have dropped 70% to the lowest crime figures

Developers are pumping millions of pounds in to building more student accommodation in towns and cities all over the UK.
Construction is underway on several sites that are aiming to open for the 2012 academic year including:
• Four 9 floor blocks on the former BBC World Ser

Property lawyers are urging student landlords to choke council planning departments with applications in protest against tightening up planning and licensing controls for shared homes.
A loophole in planning law lets landlords make planning applications at no cost – but counci

Landlords confidence boosted by buy to let buoyancy
Demand for buy to let property has hit a two year high as the number of tenants looking to rent continues to increase.
Four out of 10 landlords said tenant demand grew during the last three months of 2010, compared to 36%

Making as much profit as you can is the main objective of any student landlord. Profit is derived from a positive cash flow, which means you have more rent coming in than bills going out.
Your student letting business may make a profit already, but you may still be able to ma